Ice-making apparatus.



C. M. GAY. DECD.

u. H. GAY. EXECUIOR.

ICE MAKING APPARATUS.

APPLICAUON FILED MAYII. 1915.

melded July 16, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Wu/"m c na /$7 Sam;

C. M. GAY. DECD.

ICE MAKING APPARATUS.

I I 1m. Patented July 16, 1918.

i 3 5HEETSSHEET 2.

C. M. GAY, DECD.

- N. H. GAY, ExEcuroR.

ICE MAKING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED MA -17.1915.

1,273,055. 7 Patented July 16, 1918.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

CASSIUS M. GAY, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA; NORMAN H. GAY

EXECUTOR OF sAID CASSIUS M. GAY, DECEASED.

ICE-MAKING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patentedmiiy iaieis.

Application fiieaivra 17, 1915. Serial myzaero.

To all whom 'z't mag concern 'rat'usfofwhich the following is a description, reference being had to the accompanying'drawing, and to the figures of reference marked thereon. v i p The invention relates to new anduseful improvements in an ice making'appara'tus and more particularly todevices for agitating the water inthe containers during the process of freezing, so as to prevent" air buobles which cause the ice to have a snowy appearance. 7

rovide 'a device of the above character "An object of the invention is'to provide an "agitator a for each 's'elf 'contai'ned, so that the entire water container which is agitating device for anyone container may be readily "removed without in any waydisturbing the "a'gi'tatingflevices for the other containers,

or the operating mechanism therefor.

which'may'be pneumatically operated. A still further object of the invention is to provide an agitator, wherein a pulsating -by a diaphragm, brat'ed by varying A illustration "one embodiment of the invenchainb'er is separate'd into' two compartments which diaphragm is vithe. fluid pressure in the chamber'at one side thereof, whilethe chamber at the other side thereof operates todraw in and expela portion ofthe water in the container for agitating the same.

These and other objects will in part be obvious and will in part be. hereinafter more 'p fully'disclosed.

diagrammatically,

Figural is a View, showing moreor less an ice making apparatus having my improvements applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sec- "tionalview'through' a portion of the tank t Fig, '3 is "a, similar view transversely through the tank; r

Fig. 4 is a plan view of one of thei'pulsa- FigjEiis a sectional view on the line 5-5 ofFig. 4:;

Fig. 6 isa view, partly in side elevation rotating A furtherobject ofthe invention is to In the drawings, which showby way of and partly in section, on the line 6+6 of Fig. 4;

. Fig. '7 isa transverse seoti'onal view of the valve and the valve casing and; Fig. 8 is a longitudinal view through the valve casing. My invention consists jgen'erallyin an ice making apparatus comprising 'a maintank in which water containers'are submerged in cold I brine, which provides the fre'ezing means for the-raw water in the'containers to "be frozen. Associated witlr each container is apulsator consisting of acasinghaving a detachable flexible connection with apipe which in turn is'connected to-air tanks, one of which may be placed under vacuum and thejoth'er under pressure. This casing is divided by a flexible d iaphra'gmin'to two chambers; one chamber is connected to the P p as above noted, while the otherchamb'er 1s connected throu'gh a suitablehtube to the water in thecontainer, so that, as the diaphragm vibrates through varying the fluid pressures on one side'ofthe diaphragm, the water will'be sucked up by the other chamber or expelled therefrom and thus cause an agitation of the raw water in. the

tank which is to befrozen'.

I have shown-my improvements as applied to an ice making apparatus'consisting of'a main'tank 1. This tank is divided longitudinally by beams 2 and transversely by beams 3, into'compartments4. In 'each compartment is a water cont ainer 5. The water container is preferably made of metal andis provided with cleats 6 adjacent the upper ends which-rest-on the cross beams'for, the

urpose of supporting'the containers. The tank is filled with brine in and about the containers, which serves as the medium for freezing the water in the containers. The tankabove referred to maybe of any desired construction or character andhas beenillustrated somewhat in detail purely for the purpose of illustrating'thetype'of apparatus to which my improvements have been 7 applied.

Each Water'container is provided with a pulsator or agitating device7. Thisrpulsator is preferably made of sheet'metal and may be shaped asa segment of a sphere, as shownin the drawings, the two sections being joined by suitableclamping bolts- 8. A "flexible diaphragm 9 divides'the pulsator into two chambers 10 and 11. This flexible diaphragm is clamped between the sections of the casing forming the pulsator. The pulsator has laterally projecting lugs 12 and 13. The lug 12 is secured to a cross bar 14 by a suitable screw 15, while the lug 13 is secured to a cross-bar 16, by a similar screw 15. These cross-bars 14 and 16 extend across the containers and rest. on the side walls thereof, as clearly shown in the draw ings. The edges of the cross-bars may be turned downwardly, as shown at 17, to prevent'said cross bars from slipping off from the edges of the water containers. Formed integral with the upper section of the caslng of the pulsator is a pipe 18. The casing of the pulsator may be bent upwardly to form a supporting bracket 19 for this pipe, 1f desired. The pipe 18 is connected by a flexible pipe 20 with an outlet nozzle 21, which in turn is connected with the main supply pipes 22. A valve 23 is located close to the nozzle and is controlled by a suitable handle 24. The other section of the casing of the pul sator is provided with a downwardly projecting pipe 25 which may be formed inte- 'closed tank 36.

gral with the casing of the pulsator and a flexible pipe 26 connected to this pipe 25 extends downwardly below the surface of the water 27 in the container 5.

.There are, of course, a series of pipes 22 'and these are connected at one end to a 38, while the tank 36 is connected to the other side of this pump through a pipe 39.

The pump when operated places the tank 34 under vacuum and the tankv 36 under pressure. Each tank may be provided with a relief valve 40, so, as tomaintain the vacuum or the air pressure within a predetermined range.

Within the valve casing 31, as clearly shown in Figs. 7 and 8, is a rotating valve 41. This rotating valve has a port 42 ex- .is in position for connecting the pipe 35 with tending therethrough. Said valve is formed with suitable trunnions 43, one of which is extended and serves as a means for rotating the valve. The valve 41, as shown in Fig. 7,

the pipe 30 and this puts the pipe 30311I1Cl61 air pressure, which in turn will put the chamber 10 of each pulsator connected to said pipe under air pressure, which willforce the diaphragm 9 downwardly, as viewed in Fig.

.5. At this time the valve closes the connection of the pipe 33 with the valve casing.

or proportions.

' A rotation of the valve 41 will connect thepipe 33 with the pipe 32 and close the connection between the pipe 35 and the valve casing and when the pipe 33 is connected with the pipe 32 and each of the pipes 22 will be placed under vacuum and this will place the chamber above the flexible diaphragm and each pulsator under -,vacuum causing the diaphragm to move upwardly, thus sucking in water from each container into each pulsator. As the valverotates the pipes 22 will be intermittently and alternately placed under pressure and theniunder vacuum and this will cause a'vibration of the diaphragms 9, which in turn will cause a sucking up and expelling of thewater from the containers. This sucking up and expelling of the water by the pulsatorjcauses a circulation within a certain region of the upper portion of the water in each 0011 tainer. This agitating of the waterin the container during the process of freezing prevents the incarceration of the air'bubbles which causes 119,108 to have a snowy appearance and hence renders the ice less salable. f 1

After the ice is frozen clear and the container is to be, removed, the pulsator including the cross bars supporting thesame are removed and 318013116 flexible pipe connection with the pipes-22.] The valves 23 are closed at this time which cuts off each pulsator from the operating pipe therefor. After the removal of the pulsator the container can be readily lifted from the tank. If any pulsator becomes defective in any way, it may be readily disconnectedfor repair and when one pulsator is removed or stopped this. is done without in any way interfering with the action of the other pulsators, I '7 It will thus be seen that I have provided an agitating device for the water in each container, which, in a sense, is self-con tained, so that it may be readily 'disconnected from the pipeltherefor or its action may be stopped without in' any way affecting the action of the other pulsating devices.

It will also be noted that my' improved pulsators are pneumatically operated, which provides a veryv eflicient actuating? means for a large number of pulsators and also'avery flexible operating means which can be readily adapted, for tanks of varying sizes It is obvious that minor changes in the details of construction and arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the. appended claim. 7

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is: V V i 7 An ice making apparatus including in combination, a tank, means for supporting i a plurality of containers in said tank, means for freezing the water in said container, a plurality of pipes supported by said tank, means for placing said pipes alternately under pressure and under vacuum, a pulsator for each container, means for removably supporting the pulsator on the container, means for detachably connecting the pulsator to said pipes, said connecting means having a valve therein, each pulsator including a flexible diaphragm vibrated by Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the the varying pressure in said pipes, and means whereby said vibrating diaphragm operates to agitate the Water in the con tainers. v

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature, in the presence of two witnesses.

CASSIUS M. GAY.

Witnesses:

HERBERT W. PACKARD, NORMAN A. GAY.

commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0." 

